It's been three years since I last posted an article.  I went into a kind of retreat after the beginning of the "plandemic", and it seemed that the world had not only gone into a collective panic but also a collective insanity.  The political and social climate had gotten uglier, and it's even worse now.  While music was my refuge, the needless lockdowns prevented me from seeing my favorite players, and some have passed on since.  My own health issues cropped up again and I had to go into the hospital twice and have two more surgeries.  It was not related to C ..read more

Richie Cole and I at the Selmer Week exhibition at Steinway Hall, NYC, 2011 I only recently learned that alto saxophonist Richie Cole passed away on May 2nd at the age of 72.  He had apparently died in his sleep of a heart attack.  At the time of his death, he had relocated to Pittsburgh and had reset his career.  I had the pleasure of meeting Richie in 2011 when Selmer displayed their newest line of saxophones as well as the final incarnation of their Reference 54 "Bird" series saxophones.  I was trying out the various saxophones and Richie had introduced himself to me a ..read more

This past year I had to deal with more health problems but finally two weeks before Christmas I finally had surgery that fixed the problem that had been plaguing me for the last few years.  I was quick on the road to recovery and ready to get back out there and play again and visit the music retail and repair shops to try out more instruments to review and recommend when the world changed seemingly overnight.  As this is not a scientific or medical blog, so I won't go into things that I am not qualified to write about as far as that goes.  I may however get a little political ..read more